New breed of QBs shaking up the NFL

Watching Colin Kaepernick at the helm of the 49ers‘ new-look offense feels familiar in some odd way. It’s like we’ve seen this movie, but it was way back in the days of grainy, black-and-white celluloid.

That’s because the new-look offense is a throwback to the days when subterfuge and misdirection ruled the gridiron. Back when the Four Horsemen roamed the Notre Dame backfield. Before the days of drop-back passers, pioneered by Paul Brown and mastered by the likes of Don Coryell and Bill Walsh, football was a run-first game that hinged on multitalented quarterbacks who could fake handoffs, run the option and keep the ball themselves.

That’s why these latest variations – the pistol offense and the read-option play, to be specific – look so familiar. All that is old is new again.

Kaepernick is just one of many quarterbacks who have brought the running field general back into vogue. One could argue that it started with the Eagles’ Randall Cunningham and the Falcons’ former quarterback Michael Vick. Both were superb runners and throwers. And they kept defenses honest with their scrambling styles when traditional pass plays fell apart. So did the Vikings’ Fran Tarkenton and the Cowboys’ Roger Staubach, a generation earlier.

But all those gentlemen were precursors to the new breed of quarterback that has brought the option play back into the NFL. Tim Tebow, despite his obvious faults, showed everyone what a strong running quarterback, using the read-option, could do in the NFL when he resurrected the Broncos last season and even won a playoff game. (Notably, he won one more playoff game than the ultimate drop-back passer, Peyton Manning, did this year.) In addition to Tebow, Carolina’s Cam Newton was experimenting with the running game last year, and continued to do so this season with great success.

But it wasn’t until this year’s crop of new QBs blossomed that a truly new era dawned in the NFL. Washington’s Robert Griffin III, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Kaepernick – two rookies and a second-year man – have changed the landscape. All three pose an equal threat running or throwing the ball. All three run the read-option, in which the quarterback can either hand off or run the ball himself. And all three took their teams to the postseason.

Only one remains standing, though, and he’ll be going up against the Falcons on Sunday, with a Super Bowl trip on the line. After Kaepernick’s transcendent performance against Green Bay in the divisional playoffs last week, the new world order hasn’t been lost on defensive coordinators around the league.

“These young guys, they are athletic and they can run,” former 49ers head coach and current Atlanta defensive coordinator Mike Nolan told The Chronicle last week. “That creates a whole new set of problems.”

New problems? Or old? That’s the question we posed to John Madden last week, a man who’s seen it all in the game of football. Is this a throwback to the days of Red Grange? Not exactly, according to Madden.

“What this is … it’s a takeoff of the shotgun,” said Madden. “The NFL started using the shotgun, and it became a shotgun league.”

That meant multiple receiver sets, often spread wide, with few options for running the ball. About the only running play you can run out of the shotgun is a draw play, which isn’t much different from the quarterback simply running the ball himself. Because of those limited running options, defenses started cheating in the other direction. More nickel and dime defensive formations were used. Fewer resources were committed to stopping the run.

Now, with the pistol offense in particular, more running backs are in the backfield – oftentimes three, like the wishbone perfected at the University of Oklahoma in the ’70s- and the defense has to play it straight.

“That’s here to stay,” Madden said. “Whether all pistol offense goes with the read-option play, that’s not for sure. Not every quarterback is an option runner.”

Which brings up another key point. Kaepernick and Griffin, and even Wilson to some extent, ran the option in college. Their NFL coaches saw that and brought in an offense in which they could thrive.

“They got smart enough to realize that if you bring in a quarterback, bring their scheme in, too,” Madden said.

That’s a huge departure for a league that steadfastly refused to change its philosophies over the past two decades, much to the chagrin of running QBs like Vick and Cunningham. The new NFL seems more willing to experiment with its talent.

But at what cost? Traditionally, quarterbacks were discouraged from risking their necks in the open field for financial reasons. Rules were implemented to protect passers, because they were the most valuable players on the field.

Now, it feels as if management is willing to forget the risk and reach for the reward. In Kaepernick’s case, it’s worked. He’s a big, strong guy who has taken a few big hits and popped right up. In Washington, Griffin has not been as resilient. He finished his rookie season with a major knee injury, and a major controversy facing his coach. Did they risk his career by playing him in the playoffs? We’ll see.

“It has always been, ‘We can’t do this. He’s the franchise,’ ” said City College of San Francisco football coach George Rush, a seven-time national champion and a lifelong student of the game. “It’ll be interesting to see how the RGIII thing turns out, how the NFL responds to those injuries.”

Madden doesn’t believe you can change the rules to save the quarterbacks again. Any player on the field can slide and “give up” essentially in the open field. One option might be to change the rules on hitting high on anyone running the ball. Currently, the rules that protect receivers and quarterbacks don’t apply to running backs. “Look at Frank Gore,” said Madden. “He takes a beating.”

Perhaps the last word will be had by the defensive schemers in the NFL. As with any innovation, there will be a countermove. Just as the new running quarterback was a counter to extra defensive backs.

“Defensive coordinators haven’t quite caught up with it yet,” Rush said. “They’re smart guys, though. They’ll figure it out. Or a couple of quarterbacks will get seriously hurt and the owners will make a decision that they can’t afford to play this style.”

Whichever way it plays out, enjoy the new era while it lasts. Dynamic, fast, running quarterbacks have emerged in the NFL. And the 49ers may have the most dynamic, fastest runner in the bunch.